


Friends Don’t Do the Things We Did

by emma91802



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Rugby, adora is stupid and i love her, bow drinks caramel macchiatos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emma91802/pseuds/emma91802
Summary: Growing up, everyone expected Adora to attend Fright Zone State. Her foster mother Shadow Weaver was a professor there, she’d been assured a soccer scholarship, and most importantly, she and her best friend Catra had been planning on attending together for as long as she could remember. However, a last minute decision sends her instead to Bright Moon University. A year later, things are going well. She has new friends, good classes, and even a spot on the rugby team. But everything is about to change when she meets the person she least expects on the playing field. What will happen when her past comes back to haunt her?College AU, everybody plays rugby, Catradora endgame!
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Kudos: 18





	1. Green Leafy Water

“Oof!” Adora felt the breath huff out of Glimmer as they both hit the muddy ground. With a growl of frustration, Glimmer turned to the side, rolling the ball into Bow’s waiting arms. Instantly, Adora was back on her feet, pounding after him. Bow was one of the fastest players, but if someone could catch him, their team didn’t stand a chance. As if answering Adora’s wish, Frosta slammed into him. Despite her small size, Frosta was a vicious tackler, and quickly brought Bow hard to the ground. Glimmer, reappearing seemingly out of nowhere, reached for the ball Bow held her way, but Adora was already on her. Once they were locked together, Adora knew she had the upper hand, digging her heels into the wet earth and pushing against Glimmer with all her strength. Glimmer staggered back a few steps, and Adora nudged the ball backwards beneath her feet, where Perfuma snatched it up and began to sprint for the other team's end zone. Mermista, playing on Glimmer and Bow’s team, made a valiant effort to stop her, but too late. As she crossed the line, Adora let out a loud whoop.

“Nice one, Perfuma!” In the end zone, Perfuma gave an answering yell and smile, managing to look cheery and unbothered despite both her obvious exhaustion and the mud spattered across her arms and face. Still on the ground, Bow groaned.

“Again?” He sighed, weariness lacing his voice.

“Adora’s just too good today.” Glimmer pouted, leaning down to offer Bow a hand. As she helped him up, she turned to Adora, a mock-glare on her face. “It’s like you’re possessed by some buff, rugby-dominating goddess.” Adora laughed lightly.

“I wish. I bet a rugby goddess wouldn’t have to worry about mud. And she’d probably have like, a magic sword and a unicorn-Pegasus to ride or something.” She replied. Bow laughed along.

“Ooh I like that. And Glimmer, you’d have awesome magic princess powers.” He added. Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“Being the dean’s daughter does NOT make me a princess, Bow. You know I’d much rather be a warrior-general than a princess anyway.”

“Of course, General Glimmer Sir!” Bow teased lightly, laughter shining in his dark eyes.

“Alright folks, enough chitchat!” The sharp voice of Netossa, one of their head coaches, carried across the field. “It’s looking like it’s going to start raining again, so we’re going to call it there. Circle up!” They’d been playing a five-by-five practice match, and all ten players along with the dozen others who’d been watching from the sidelines gathered into a huddle around their coach. “Well done, everyone. Glimmer, excellent sprinting, as always. Bow, I liked your speed as well.” Netossa briefly addressed each player, both complimenting and offering advice for improvement, before finally turning to Adora. “And our newbie, taking to the game like a duck to water. Fantastic work, Adora. Very happy to have you on the team.” Bow, from across the circle, shot Adora an encouraging grin, and Glimmer, by her side, gave her shoulder an enthusiastic squeeze.

“Thanks, Coach.” Despite the miserable weather, Adora felt as warm and shiny as the sun. Joining Bright Moon University’s rugby team truly had been one of the best decisions she’d made since coming to college. Glimmer and Bow, her two best friends at Bright Moon, had been pestering her to join since freshman year, but Adora had been hesitant. She’d wanted to focus on academics, and the last time she’d done any team sport had been...well, something she’d rather leave in her past. Glimmer was nothing if not persistent though, and finally at the beginning of their sophomore year Adora had agreed to try out. Netossa and Spinerella, the coaches, had been impressed with her tenacity and her uncanny ability to almost become a different person on the field, transforming from a slightly mousy bookworm to a confident rugby machine. After that, it was nothing but sunshine, roses, and a copious number of tackles face-first into the ground. “Okay everybody, thanks for coming out, and I’ll see you for Sunday practice. Until then, have a good weekend. Go team!”

“GO TEAM!” Came the answering cheer, and the huddle broke, everyone rushing off the field as the light drizzle began to turn into a full-on downpour. Glimmer, just ahead of Adora with Bow, hustled to grab her gym bag as her two-toned purple and pink dyed hair began to stick to her neck and forehead. Adora’s own hair was soaked as well, darkening from its earlier bright blond. 

“Let’s get home and warm, and then meet at the library café in an hour like we planned?” Glimmer raised her voice to be heard over the rain. Adora was nodding in agreement when a blinding flash of lightning cut across the sky, followed shortly by a deafening thunderclap. With a shriek, Bow clung to Adora, eyes round with fright. Glimmer had jumped behind Adora as well, cold hands on her shoulders. Adora couldn’t help but laugh.

“What am I gonna do here guys, hold off the storm?” Bow released his grip and looked away sheepishly.

“Me, afraid of thunder? Who said that?”

“No one, Bow,” responded Glimmer, seemingly recovered as well, “The weather is nothing to be afraid of.” Her attempt at dignity was somewhat undermined by her current wet-rat appearance. 

“Riiiiiight,” said Adora, unable to hide a grin, “I’ll see you two at the library. If you survive, of course.” Giving in, Glimmer sent an answering smile her way as she and Bow turned towards the direction of their apartment. Adora watched them walk away for a moment before turning towards her own dorm. It was still strange to her at times, to be able to joke around with her friends and never have it get nasty. The three of them might poke and prod at each other, but it was always rooted in love. _Not like…_ Adora shook her head, tossing away water droplets and her thoughts. Once back in her building, she lost herself in a hot shower, washing out the mud and letting the warmth ease the soreness of her muscles. Rugby was hard work, and required more upper body strength than she’d had when she’d played soccer in high school. _I’m stronger in a lot of ways now,_ she thought, before shaking her head again. Why did memories of the past keep creeping in? She was happy here, much happier than she’d been then. She could leave it behind her. She _needed_ to leave it behind her. 

After her shower, Adora quickly threw on a long-sleeved white shirt, worn-in jeans, and her favorite red coat. Glimmer said the collar and sewn-in shoulder pads made her look like a space lawyer from the ‘80s, but Adora had had the coat since she was fourteen and loved it. After heading out the door straight into a downpour, she begrudgingly added a matching red umbrella to the ensemble. _I hope Bow and Glimmer remember their umbrellas,_ she thought worriedly. Their apartment was only a few blocks away from South Campus, which held both the practice field and their favorite library, but with rain like this they’d get soaked. It didn’t rain all that often in Etheria, the city that held Bright Moon, but when it did, it poured buckets more often than not. Even with her umbrella, Adora was damp by the time she reached the library café, cheekily named The Castle. Bright Moon’s mascot and teams were the Royals, and whoever named things on campus seemed to feel the need to allude to it everywhere. Adora thought the name was silly, but she had to admit the baristas there made delicious jasmine tea. Her teammate Mermista had once commented that Adora could just as easily make jasmine tea in her dorm room for much cheaper, but there was something special about getting it in the library cup, stamped with The Castle’s logo and steaming gently. She was generally careful with her money, particularly since her job at the campus gym paid barely above minimum wage, but everyone had to have some indulgences. After ordering, she leaned against the wall by the pick-up counter, casually scanning the cafe for any sign of Bow and Glimmer. Right as the barista called her name, she spotted them coming through the door, looking slightly bedraggled but far cleaner than they had on the field.

“Adora!” Glimmer called brightly, earning some stern looks from the students seated around the café tables. While talking was permitted in the café, anything above a quiet conversation was still frowned upon. “Sorry!” Glimmer hissed quietly as she made her way over.

“What happened? You guys look soaked again.” Adora asked. Glimmer sighed.

“Bow tried to redesign our umbrella’s opening contraption thingy again, and halfway over here it somehow shot off the top of the umbrella.” She sent a scowl at Bow, who shrugged sheepishly. Adora laughed loudly, then had to echo Glimmer’s hushed sorry as other students again aimed dirty looks their way. 

“Well, if I need an umbrella weapon, I’ll be sure to come to you, Bow.” Bow gave her a slight pout before turning to order his usual caramel macchiato. Bow was a double major in creative writing and engineering, and while not quite as mechanically minded as an old friend of theirs, Entrapta, his combination of imagination and skill led to the creation of some truly bizarre inventions. Half the time, they were brilliant. The other half...well, exploding umbrella was not the worst of them. Adora shook her head fondly. Glimmer joined Bow at the counter and put in an order for a large black coffee. While they waited for their drinks, Adora picked up her tea and set up shop at their usual window table in the corner. By the time Bow and Glimmer joined her, she had an array of books, notepads, and her computer splayed out before her. Chewing her lip, she looked over her assignments for each class, unsure of where to start.

“Have you started on the haiku assignment yet?” Bow asked, looking pointedly at the empty page titled “POEMS” in one of her notebooks.

“Ugh, no. I didn’t think anything could be worse than sonnets, but here we are.” Adora complained. Glimmer, sipping her scalding coffee carefully, scoffed.

“The haikus and sonnets aren’t _that_ bad, Adora, all you have to do is follow the form. It’s the free form ones that are the worst.” Glimmer said scathingly. Bow gasped in mock outrage, and the two of them began a heated discussion about the merits of different poetry styles. Adora sighed. Pretty much any type of poetry was a loss for her. She had so many thoughts and emotions trapped in her head, but when she tried to put them into words, particularly on paper, she drew endless blanks. Glimmer, an English lit major, and Bow, as part of his creative writing major, were both taking the class for major credits, but Adora as a history major had no reason to be there. _If only I’d insisted no,_ she thought wistfully. But they’d both had such big puppy eyes when they pleaded with her to take the class with them. And she’d thought poetry couldn’t be all that difficult. It was essentially just whatever wishy-washy nonsense you wanted to put down, wasn’t it? Very much no, according to both her professor and her grades. She sighed again. Slowly, she began to draft a haiku as Bow and Glimmer continued to argue. After fifteen minutes, she had:

_tasty jasmine tea  
I sip it with my friends  
green leafy water_

Seeing that she’d written something, Bow and Glimmer leaned over curiously.

“Just tell me it’s bad.” Adora said defeatedly.

“Well…” Glimmer hesitated. “For one thing, it’s supposed to be 5-7-5, and you only have six syllables in the second line."

“Oh, well that I can fix!” Adora replied, her tone a little brighter. She quickly drew a line through _with_ and replaced it with _next to_. “Ta-da!” She looked up at Glimmer, who gave her a slightly pained looking smile. Bow rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable.

“It’s also...a little...bland?” He said, voice squeaking on the last word. Adora’s face fell.

“But I did what you recommended last time and wrote about things I liked! I love jasmine tea, and I love you guys!” Adora couldn’t keep the dismay out of her tone.

“Yes, but that doesn’t exactly come through here.” Bow said gently. “What if you try…” His face screwed up in concentration as he leaned over her paper. After a moment, he had written:

 _Hot steam, fragrant tea_  
_Not as warm as friendship’s glow_  
_I am safe, loved, held_

“It’s a little on the nose, and I’d definitely tweak it if I had more time, but is that kind of what you were aiming for?” Bow asked, eyes still on the paper. Adora stared down at the words, barely even unaware he had spoken. _Safe, loved, held_. “Adora? Hello? Earth to Adora?” The concern in his voice snapped her back.

“Oh, sorry. Yes, that’s exactly what I was trying to say.” She clenched her fists under the table, trying desperately to re-center herself. Her eyebrows and mouth came down in a frown. “Uh, how did you come up with that so quick?” Bow smiled gently.

“I’ve been writing poetry since middle school. A lot of it is practice. And you have to just let yourself be loose with it. Let the feelings flow, don’t worry too much.” 

“Or start with the form and let that guide you.” Glimmer muttered.

“Don’t listen to that one, she’s almost as stiff as you.” Bow seemed to realize his mistake immediately, cringing as both Glimmer and Adora shot him death glares. Turning back to her paper, Adora tried again to focus. _Don’t worry too much. Be loose with it. Just let it flow_. After twenty minutes with nothing more than one word on the paper, Adora shut her notebook with a sigh.

An hour and a half later, both Bow and Glimmer had made significant progress on their poems, and while Adora’s poetry notebook remained forlornly shut, she had written a full three pages for her research paper on the First Ones, an ancient civilization that had occupied Etheria hundreds of years ago. Her history classes so far had covered a range of topics, times, and places, but she kept returning to the First Ones, drawn to them in a way she couldn’t quite explain.

“Any luck with the haikus?” Bow asked.

“No,” Adora replied resignedly, “I’ll just have to finish them over the weekend.” Bow gave her a sympathetic look. He hesitated, looking as though he were going to say something, but right as he opened his mouth, Glimmer cut in.

“Ooh, Spinerella finally sent out our schedule for this season!” She exclaimed. “The first team we’re playing is - ” She cut off abruptly as her face turned anxious.

“What?” Said Adora, eyebrows knit together. Glimmer looked up at her nervously.

“The Horde.”


	2. Game Night

“The Horde?” Adora replied, feeling a jolt of an unnameable emotion shoot through her. She quickly tamped it down, and attempted to rearrange her face into something resembling nonchalance. “Well that’s...fine! That’s totally one-hundred-percent fine by me. Hunky-dory, even!” Glimmer and Bow shared a look that held both exasperation and concern.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Adora? We know the Horde and Fright Zone State are a bit of a...touchy subject.” Bow asked, leaning towards her slightly.

“Yep! Totally sure! And uh, oh wow would you look at the time, I have to uh, urgently take a nap before dinner, see you guys later!” Adora swept her notebooks and papers into her backpack, feeling a flush rise in her cheeks. Bow and Glimmer shared another worried glance, and Glimmer opened her mouth to reply, but Adora was already at the cafe door, her steps almost as fast as her heartbeat. It was only after she’d made it halfway across the campus green that rain began to pour down once again and she realized she’d left her umbrella.

 _The Horde. Of course we’re playing the Horde. Why would we be playing anyone except the one college I have history with?_ Adora thought, blinking away raindrops as she power walked towards her dorm. History wasn’t the right word. She’d never actually attended Fright Zone State. It shouldn’t even mean that much to her. _Why would it, Adora? You only ever spent every waking and sleeping moment for years dreaming about going there._ The voice in her head sounded suspiciously like...She groaned, trying desperately to ground herself in the present. Fright Zone used to matter to her, but that was in the past now, and it would stay there. She was an adult, and she had moved on. _Moved on so much that I practically sprinted out of the library away from my friends as soon as someone mentioned the Horde._ She sighed, stopping for a moment by the side of the Chemistry building and letting her forehead rest on the wet brick. _Maybe I haven’t moved on yet._ Slowly, she trudged through the mud back to her dorm.

The next morning, after a night of fitful sleep, Adora felt more herself, if not better rested. It was possible, she admitted, that she might maybe possibly still have some small unresolved issues about Fright Zone. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t kick the Horde’s ass at rugby. She could, and she _would_. She was still riding the high of her newfound determination when she met her friends at one of the dining halls for Saturday brunch. Bow seemed fairly chipper as he poured large quantities of syrup on his waffles, but Glimmer hunched over a cup of black coffee, inhaling its steam even as her eyes began to droop closed. When she saw Adora, however, she sat up straight.

“Adora! How are you? We got your texts that you were fine but you seemed pretty...off.” Mild concern laced Glimmer’s voice. Adora didn’t hesitate before replying.

“I’m good. I’m sorry I ran out on you guys yesterday, I just didn’t expect to be facing the Horde so soon. But I knew it would happen eventually when I joined rugby, and I’m more than ready to pound the Horde into the ground. Literally.” Adora punched her fist into her palm for emphasis.

“That’s more like it!” Bow said brightly, grinning up at her. Adora returned his smile and slid into the seat next to him, gently scooting his waffles over to set down her own meal. 

“So what did you end up doing last night?” Adora asked her friends, taking a sip from her coffee. Unlike Glimmer’s, it contained liberal amounts of both cream and sugar. 

“We made spaghetti and then got about halfway through Scream before Bow decided it was too scary to finish.” Glimmer answered, sending an amused look Bow’s way.

“Well at least I didn’t stay up until three a.m. working on a paper on a Friday night.” Bow shot back.

“Three a.m.??” Adora looked incredulously at Glimmer, who put her head in her hands.

“I didn’t mean to work on it that long! It’s for my Middle Eastern religious studies midterm that’s due Sunday night. And besides, you know how I get when I’m in the zone on a paper.”

“It’s scary.” Bow commented solemnly. “It’s like you’ve got a personal vendetta against every essay you write and you can’t rest until they’re defeated.” Adora frowned slightly at that but turned back to Glimmer.

“Midterms aren’t for two weeks; how do you have one due Sunday?”

“My professor is crazy!” Glimmer answered, throwing her hands up and nearly knocking over her mug. Adora raised her eyebrows in a silent question. “Professor Huntara.” Glimmer responded morosely.

“Oh, Huntara? I love her, she’s amazing.” Adora’s eyes lit up at the mention of one of her favorite professors.

“I know you like her, but I think she’s crazy. And she’s a harsh grader, too. All that stuff about how ‘we must be strong’ and ‘the strong make the rules, not weaklings who don’t understand the difference between Sunni and Shia.’” Glimmer muttered. Adora laughed.

“She’s definitely an acquired taste, but if you can get on her good side, she’s one of the best professors here.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Glimmer replied, taking a long sip of her coffee. Adora chuckled lightly and turned her attention to her meal, stealing the syrup from Bow to smother her pancakes. Growing up, Adora had mostly eaten protein bars for breakfast, so Bright Moon’s bountiful brunch buffet still felt like a treat. After a few moments of quiet in which they all made quick work of their food, Bow broke the comfortable silence.

“Are we still on for board games tonight with Mermista and Sea Hawk?” He asked around a mouthful of waffle.

“Definitely.” Glimmer answered. “I need redemption after they wrecked us at bananagrams last time.”

“I’m in too!” Adora responded cheerfully. “I’m going to hit the gym and then try to get a little more work done, but I’ll see you two for dinner and then we can head over to Mermista’s place?”

“Perfect! The Best Friends Squad will take down the uh...Inferior Couple Squad.” Bow ended awkwardly. 

“Hell yeah.” Glimmer replied, all seriousness. “We’re gonna kick some bananagram butt.” Adora and Bow both giggled at the ferocity on her face before finally breaking away to return their dishes and head out of the dining hall. The warmth Adora felt rise within her as she laughed with her friends was almost enough to drive away the lingering thoughts of Fright Zone and her past. Almost.

The day was satisfying but slow, and by the time dinner was over, Adora was ready for some action. Before walking over, Adora stopped briefly by her dorm to shower and change from her ratty gym clothes to slightly less ratty sweatpants and a T-shirt with a unicorn on it (a gift from Bow). In terms of dress code if not competitive spirit, game night was a casual affair. Yesterday’s rain was thankfully nowhere to be found, and the fall night was crisp but not cold. The mile-long walk from Adora’s dorm to Mermista’s small off-campus apartment was pleasant, particularly with her friends close beside her and the conversation light and pleasant. Feeling happy and relaxed, Adora rang the buzzer at Mermista’s building, a quaint blue complex in a quiet neighborhood of Etheria.

“Aren’t you cold, Bow?” Mermista asked in her signature bored drawl, eyeing his crop top suspiciously as she leaned in the doorframe.

“Oh, uh, a little bit, but who needs comfort when you have _style_.” Bow replied with a winning smile. Mermista rolled her eyes, and stood aside to let them in. Her apartment was tastefully decorated in a nautical theme, with soft blues and greens predominating. A bright red bandanna draped casually over one of the stools at the counter of her kitchenette announced Sea Hawk’s presence as well. 

“Bow, Glimmer, Adora!” Sea Hawk’s voice rang out as he flung his arms wide.

“Sea Hawk!” They all responded happily, coming in for a group hug. Sea Hawk beamed. Where Mermista was cool and reserved, at least on the exterior, Sea Hawk was energetic and warm. That they worked so well as a couple was a constant surprise to Adora, but it was clear what they had was real and good. After greetings had been exchanged, Sea Hawk insisted on making them all cocktails. When he wasn’t working towards earning his Master’s in theater at Salineas University on the other side of Etheria, Sea Hawk worked as a bartender part-time, and Mermista and the trio were often subjected to some of his wilder concoctions.

“I call this one the Dragon’s Daughter!” He announced, a slightly manic look in his eyes. Mermista looked at him skeptically.

“Sea Hawk, this isn’t going to be another...incident, is it?” She asked, eyes narrowing.

“Oh no, of course not!” Sea Hawk replied as he reached for a lighter. Everyone realized what was about to happen right as he set the drinks aflame, cackling.

“SEA HAWK!” Shouted Mermista, immediately going for a fire extinguisher handily placed by the sink. Adora had wondered why Mermista kept it in her apartment, but the need was now obvious. Thankfully, the fires quickly sputtered out before Mermista had to deploy the extinguisher.

“See, Mermista, totally fine, nothing to worry...about…” Sea Hawk quailed in the face of the waves of silent fury emitting from his girlfriend. It took some time for Mermista to cool off, but Sea Hawk’s profuse apologies and the fact the drinks actually were delicious eventually restored order. Soon, the Dragon’s Daughters had been consumed, and they sat down to begin bananagrams. Despite Glimmer’s vow to conquer, once again, Mermista and Sea Hawk dominated, taking two apiece of the first four games. After another round of drinks, the fifth game went to Adora, to everyone’s shock including her own, as she was generally too unwilling to rescramble her words to stand a chance. They all agreed to one more game, which Bow won narrowly after a hard-fought battle. Glimmer got up to angrily inspect his board.

“Really, Bow? You crossed ‘cuddles’ with ‘cuddles?’” She groaned.

“I’m sorry, Glimmer! It was there, so I took it!” He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes and she sighed disgustedly but sank back in her chair, admitting defeat.

“I cannot believe that I, the residing English major, am the only one who hasn’t won a round. Even Adora won the last one and what does she have this time? Just ‘dog’ crossed with ‘dabzle,’ which isn’t even a word.” Glimmer huffed. Adora squinted down at her board. She’d sworn it read ‘dazzle,’ but it seemed that the second round of drinks was hitting her harder than she’d thought.

“Well, better luck next time, Glitter!” said Sea Hawk in his chipper way. Glimmer only glared at him, uncharmed by the reference to when he had called her by the wrong name for the first week of their friendship.

“You’ll get there Glimmer,” Bow reassured, “And by the way, I’m an English major too, you know.”

“Ugh, yes, but you’re creative writing, which doesn’t even really count -” Bow gasped in mock outrage.

“How dare you, creative writing is just as much a part of English as literature, I can’t believe -”

“I’m just saying it’s a completely different category of knowledge!” Adora tuned them out as they ramped up the familiar argument. Mermista rolled her eyes, and gestured for Adora to follow her into the kitchenette. Adora gratefully got up, taking her glass with her. Mermista casually grabbed the glass from her, poured out the last dregs of Sea Hawk’s concoction, and filled it with a generous measure of vodka, adding a small splash of cranberry juice on top.

“I’m no bartender, but this will help you forget that _that_ is going on.” She gestured towards the table, where Sea Hawk was now enthusiastically arguing for both sides of the impassioned debate.

“Thanks, Mermista.” said Adora. After they sipped their drinks in silence for a moment, Mermista spoke again.

“Sooooo, how’re you feeling about your first game next weekend? The Horde’s pretty tough, we only beat them once last year. And they’re mean, too.” Mermista pulled a face.

“Yeah…” Adora stared into her vodka cranberry, trying to collect her thoughts. Her head felt fuzzy, but her tongue seemed looser than normal. “I’m not feeling that good about it, actually. I have uh...a complicated history with Fright Zone State and some of the Horde players.”

“Oh?” Mermista questioned, shaken out of her usual apathy.

“I was supposed to go there.” Adora answered, eyes still on her drink. “My old foster mother is a professor there, and I had a scholarship for soccer and everything. Me and all my high school friends were dead set on going together. Then at the last minute, I backed out. I decided to come to Bright Moon instead. It… didn’t go over very well. Starting here kind of meant… leaving everyone behind. ” She let out a deep breath, finally raising her gaze to meet Mermista’s. Mermista’s expression was surprisingly warm, and she reached out one of her hands to rest lightly on Adora’s.

“You’re on a team now, Adora. Royals look out for each other.” Adora gave her a small and tentative smile, just as a massive crash sounded from the living room. When both of them rushed out, it was to find Glimmer almost atop Bow, clearly threatening him as Sea Hawk laughed delightedly.

“Creative writing! Not the same!” Glimmer panted, a crazy gleam in her eyes. Beside her was a mostly empty glass of another of Sea Hawk’s cocktails. _When did they even have the time??_ Adora wondered wildly.

“Glimmer, please! No bi-on-bi violence!” Bow cried out as Adora reached them and hauled Glimmer off him. Mermista sighed heavily from behind them, clearly returned to her natural state of bored indifference. Holding Glimmer with one arm, Adora reached out and picked up Glimmer’s glass with the other. 

“Sea Hawk, what did you even put in these?” She asked. He looked at her a little sheepishly.

“Oh, you know, just a little bit of fireball, some hard cider, possibly a smidgen of tequila.” Adora sniffed what was left of the drink and immediately pulled back, horrified.

“Ugh. Definitely more than a smidgen.” She turned to Mermista. “Well, I think this is our cue to leave. Thank you for the drinks and...thank you for listening.” Mermista shrugged.

“Sure, whatever.” She said flatly, but the tiny smile she gave Adora belied her tone. Returning it, Adora hoisted Glimmer over her shoulder and began to make her way out the door.

“See you at practice tomorrow, Mermista!” Bow called over his shoulder as he adjusted his crop top.

“Yep.” She responded, unceremoniously closing the door as soon as they were beyond it. Adora shook her head, smiling slightly and letting Bow lean on her a little as all three of them slowly made their way home.

The next week went by in a pre-midterm blur. Rugby practice went smoothly, which calmed Adora even as she continued to fret about facing the Horde. She managed to submit five haikus for their poetry class, although the quality was not exactly high-caliber. Life went on, but as Saturday’s game crept closer and closer, Adora’s throat began to feel tighter and tighter. Whenever she felt herself start to really panic, she would take a moment to remind herself that the only people she really knew on Fright Zone’s team were Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio. They had been her friends, and it hurt deeply that they hated her now, but she didn’t really owe them anything. Not like... _Catra_ , whispered her treasonous brain. _Catra plays soccer, there’s no reason for her to pick up rugby_ , she thought. _And there’s no reason for you to worry anymore_ , she told herself firmly. You’ll play your best and you’ll be fine. But when the day of the match dawned, Adora felt tenser than ever. Bow and Glimmer immediately picked up on her anxiety when they met outside the college-issued van that would take them to the Fright Zone field, and each gave her a reassuring shoulder bump.

“Thanks, guys.” She said a little shakily, and swung herself into the van. The whole team idly chatted on the short drive over, but Adora just stared quietly out the window, feeling a lump rise in her throat as the brutalist concrete towers of Fright Zone State came into view. As they left the van and headed towards the field, she took several deep breaths. Seeing Rogelio’s tall, imposing form, Lonnie’s squared shoulders, and Kyle’s mop of floppy blonde hair across the field was still a shock, but she was beginning to feel calmer as she took her place with her teammates. _You can do this, Adora. You can do this_. She truly began to feel like she could, until she spotted a lithe form emerge from behind the Horde’s extraordinarily buff team captain, Scorpia. Adora felt all the blood drain from her face. _No, it can’t be_. Stepping forward towards her, mismatched eyes narrowed intensely was…

“Hey, Adora.” purred Catra.

**Author's Note:**

> Much credit to my friend and co-conspirator parkley, who has helped me at every stage of writing this!


End file.
